Omar Epps as Eric Foreman
Actor Omar Hashim Epps was born on July 23, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York to a single mother, who worked as a school principal. At the age of 10, he began to write screenplays while attending the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. He later made his acting debut in the film, Juice. He later appeared in the college football drama,
The Program. Moving on to play another sports star, he appeared in the baseball film Major League II and Higher Learning.
On television, Epps appeared on the medical drama
ER in 1997, subsequently working on the HBO film,
First Time Felon. Two years later, he worked on
The Mod Squad, which became very popular in the box office. His other film credits include
The Wood,
Love and Basketball,
Dracula 2000,
Big Trouble,
Conviction and
Against the Ropes.
In 2004, Epps played Dr. Eric Foreman in
House, the television series starring Hugh Laurie. For his work on the series, he won the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series after garnering nominations in the same category in 2005 and 2006.
In talking about his character's relationship with the central character, Dr. Gregory House, Epps said, "I think House sees a bit of himself in Foreman, and I think Foreman sees the same. But at the end of the day, House is a genius at what he does, and Foreman is trying to be the best doctor he can be. So House is the best to learn from. House digs into Foreman, but he is sort of the guy who stands up to him."
Epps added that he is devoted to the show, saying, "I'll be with [House] until the end, and hopefully we'll have a nice run."